This time, Reuters are reporting that Steven Spielberg's plans to redo ultra-violent Korean revenge flick Oldboy with Will Smith in the lead role are still moving forward, despite a complex behind-the-scenes legal row between the publishers of the original manga and the producers of the original film.

Futabasha has filed a case against Show East in Seoul, alleging the Korean company never had the right to negotiate a remake. To futher complicate the story, Show East has shut down, its CEO, Kim Dong-Ju, has disappeared, and another firm involved in the production of the original, Big Egg, has also closed up shop.

DreamWorks, which snapped up the rights in November in the wake of its separation from Paramount, has so far not commented on the dispute.

It appears that the Karloff/Lugosi box set that Warner Home Video promised back in March is a sure thing, as they have officially announced the release of Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics on October 3rd, 2009. The set will contain four films -- The Walking Dead (Michael Curtiz, 1936), Frankenstein 1970 (Howard W. Koch, 1958 - presented in anamorphic widescreen),You'll Find Out (David Butler, 1940), and Zombies on Broadway (Gordon Douglas, 1945). Special features will include two commentary tracks: one on The Walking Dead with Gregory Mank (author of Hollywood Cauldron, an excellent book which devotes a full chapter to the film) and another featuring Tom Weaver and actress Charlotte Austin discussing Frankenstein 1970. Suggested retail price for Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics is $26.98.

There is
some good news of sorts if you were despairing of ever again seeing
anything original at the cinema. The HorrorSquad website is reporting
that Michael Bay's production company Platinum Dunes has apparently
dropped plans to remake Hitchcock's The Birds and Roman
Polanski's Rosemary's Baby.

In an
interview with Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, the duo behind the recent Friday the 13th
and Texas Chainsaw remakes, as well as the upcoming new version of
Nightmare on Elm Street, both appeared to suggest that the
overwhelmingly negative response on the Internet was a factor

On The
Birds remake, which had been slated for a 2011 release with Naomi Watts in the Tippi Hedren role, Fuller is quoted as saying "As you
guys know, we lay ourselves out there and get annihilated out there
online all day long, and that movie just opens us up to a whole
different level of annihilation."(read more...)

The Hollywood Reporter's Risky Business blog broke the inevitable news that Universal is developing a remake of James Whales's Bride of Frankenstein. In fact, it turns out that Universal's been kicking around the idea for at least five years, although never with any success. The new Bride would be co-produced with Imagine Entertainment. Neil Burger (The Illusionist, The Lucky Ones) is in talks to write and direct; he would likely partner with Dirk Wittenborn on the screenplay. (read more...)

Here we are, ten crazy years after a naïve sixteen-year-old started the website that would eventually become Classic-Horror.com. Back then, I just wanted a corner of the Internet to express my half-formed opinions on the genre that I loved. I had no idea that it would still be here ten years later or that it would take me all the places it has taken me. I have no interest in rehashing the past decade, though. I would like to say that I am deeply grateful to the friends, family, writers, and readers who have helped make Classic-Horror what it is today. (read more...)

Christopher Lee has been awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday
Honours List, for his services to drama and his charity work. Although
the 87-year-old has over 250 TV and movie credits to his name, he will
probably always be associated with horror films. It was his work with
Hammer that made him an international star, playing, amongst others,
Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy and Sir Henry Baskerville.
From there he went on to appear in other genre classics such as The Wicker Man (his personal favourite of any film he's been in) and Death Line, as well as playing Bond villain Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun. More recently he found a new generation of fans playing the evil Count Dooku in Star Wars Episodes II and III, and Saruman in the Lord of the Rings
trilogy. Aside from his acting work, Lee has also been a supporter of
the United Nations childrens charity UNICEF for many years.

David Carradine, star of the 1970s television series Kung Fu as well as a number of horror films, has been found dead in Bangkok, Thailand of undisclosed causes, according to the Associated Press. He was 72 years old. David, the son of legendary character actor John Carradine, worked in a diverse range of projects throughout his forty-six years as an actor, including crime movies, horror films, sci-fi, and martial arts flicks. He had worked with directors such as Ingmar Bergman, Martin Scorcese, Larry Cohen, Paul Bartel, Walter Hill, John Badham, and Quentin Tarantino. He was also a follower of Eastern philosophy, going so far as to write a book, The Spirit of the Shaolin, in the early 1990s.(read more...)

FEARnet.com is looking to put all swine flu anxieties to the test on June 3rd, when
they unleash a festival of free online streaming movies centered around
the theme of terrifying viral infections. FEARnet's "Infectious Films"
will include titles both new (Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Dance of the Dead) and old (Night of the Creeps, C.H.U.D. II - Bud the Chud). Here's a sneak peek at the titles awaiting those brave enough to watch on June 3rd:

Tokyo can breathe easy for once; this August, Godzilla and his fellow kaiju will invade the Bay Area for the Godzilla and the Monsters of Mass Destruction Japanese Monster Movie Festival. Running August 21 - 23 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, this event will feature five double features of giant monster madness, for a total of ten movies. While the final lineup has yet to be announced, all movies will be projected from a 35mm print.(read more...)